The Build process can be broken into three distinct areas:
- Administration
- Site Preparation
- Asphalt Paving
Sign Contract – Your proposal must be signed and returned to us prior to the start of work. The written proposal contains the work that will be completed, including a detailed drawing. Once your contract is received by our office, you will receive a letter from us outlining permit requirements, the scheduling procedure, a brief overview of the site preparation procedure and a brief overview of the asphalt paving procedure.
Obtain Permit – If you are not sure if a permit is required, please contact your local municipality. If a permit is required, you will need a copy of your proposal outlining the scope of the work being performed, so be sure to bring it with you to fill out your permit application. Most municipalities also charge a permit fee. If you live in College Township (Centre County), there are some additional inspection requirements that we will schedule as the job proceeds. For assistance in obtaining a permit, please click on this link: Permits & Regulations
Schedule Work – The scheduler will attempt to contact you approximately one week prior to the start of your project. At that time, he will discuss any scheduling conflicts or concerns that you may have. Additionally, he will make sure that you have obtained any necessary permits. One or two days prior to our planned arrival, the scheduler will contact you to finalize the work plan and give you a more accurate time of arrival. Please be aware that the weather can significantly affect our schedule and may cause delays. If this occurs, the scheduler will contact you to inform you of any changes that will need to be made.
If you have any concerns regarding scheduling (i.e. other work being done at your home, vacation conflicts, etc.), please contact our office and we will try to accommodate you as best we can. When making scheduling requests, please be mindful that we have only 7 ½ months per year to perform over 500 jobs and we work very hard to maximize our scheduling efficiency to maintain a high level of service to all of our customers
Before – Prior to our arrival, you will need to remove all vehicles, trailers, RV’s and any other large items from the work area. If you have specific concerns, you should attempt to be home when we arrive. If you are unable to do this, please provide us with a work and/or mobile phone number to contact you.
During – The project manager will meet with you and our work crew on site. He will also supervise the work until the job is complete. Please note that most jobs (except very small ones) require two separate crews to complete the work. The first crew, a surface preparation crew, will prepare the site for paving. They may be on site for as little as a few hours or for as long as a few days. The crew typically consists of two people with the following equipment: dump truck, pickup truck, skid steer, cold planer, vibratory roller, vibratory plate, handheld cut-off saw and various other tools. If there are special requirements, there may be other equipment on site as well.
After – When the surface preparation crew is complete, you may continue using your driveway. It may be anywhere from 1 – 5 business days before our paving crew arrives to pave. This delay is necessary to ensure that our surface preparation crews stay ahead of the paving crew. It also allows you to be comfortable with the overall layout of your project prior to the final paving.
When the surface preparation crew is complete, you should expect the following:
- New Driveway or Parking Lot – A stone subbase that has been finegraded and compacted (with a vibratory roller and vibratory plate) to a uniform and consistent grade. It should be graded in such a way as to promote the flow of water away from buildings. It should look exactly like you expect the end product (paving) to look like. If it does not and it looks uneven or inconsistent, then the final paving will mirror that inconsistency.
- Overlay – The existing pavement should be clear of loose materials. The edges of the existing pavement should be cleaned off. Sections of the driveway should be removed or milled near fixed elevations such as garage floors, sidewalks or the road. Otherwise, the new pavement layer will be higher than those fixed elevations, causing drainage problems. In the case of an overlay, the existing surface may still be uneven. The paving crew will patch the existing pavement or apply a leveling course before applying the final layer of pavement.
Before – Prior to our arrival, you will need to remove all vehicles, trailers, RV’s and any other large items from the work area. On the day the paving crew arrives, it is helpful for the garage door to be open (or unlocked) if we will be paving in front of it. Additionally, if an outside water spigot is available, please make sure that it is turned on.
During – The paving crew may be on site for as little as a few hours or for as long as a full day. The crew typically consists of four to six people on site paving and one to five drivers delivering the Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) via dump trucks. Our standard paving crew utilizes the following equipment: pickup truck, asphalt paver, vibratory roller, finish roller, vibratory plates, hand tampers and various other tools. If there are special requirements, there may be other equipment on site as well.
After – Once the paving is complete, the paving crew will rope off the end of your driveway/parking lot so that no one accidentally drives on the fresh pavement. If possible, it is best to keep vehicles off of your new pavement for two days. You will be invoiced for the work only after the job is complete.
When the paving crew is complete, you should expect the following: The surface should be uniform and consistent. It should be paved in such a way as to promote the flow of water away from the buildings. The surface should appear smooth, without any creases (ridges). There may be some areas with irregular texture which may have occurred because of the need to perform some handwork in conjunction with machine paving.
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